Those Crazy Schuberts » California

Seeing our favorite people in San Francisco

Amy — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 09:10:57 +0000

Andrew made plans to see some of his friends play a concert the first weekend of December.

Of course, this concert was in San Francisco.

Only Andrew would look at the calendar, see he has about 48 hours off of work and turn that into a quick trip to visit friends!

We left L.A. early early Saturday morning for the drive up the middle of California … We listened to the second half of Tina Fey’s Bossypants audio book, some podcasts and a couple CDs… and reached C&A’s apartment in Oakland just about lunch time!

Which, really, is just a perfect excuse for Andrew to get to try yet another Mexican restaurant.

He’s pretty easy to please

With a free Saturday afternoon, we actually went into San Francisco-proper to visit the Bazaar Bizarre - a holiday craft fair with booths full of handmade jewelry, homegoods and more.

Andrew and I had already finished the bulk of our Christmas shopping so we didn’t end up picking anything up, but Avalon found earrings for herself

After the Bazaar, it was off to Trader Joe’s to pick up dinner ….

I love visiting Christian and Avalon because they are just so easy. They cook for us in their home (yum!) and we play video games or cards and just talk.

So easy and relaxing and just like being at home ….

except someone else is cooking and cleaning…

After dinner (and Shang-hai), Andrew left to go to the concert …. I stayed home w/ C&A and got badly beaten at Tetris ….

Also, realized my eyes are getting BAD and I need glasses, but I can only *partly* blame my poor playing on my eyesight …

Sunday morning and it was time to go home!

Christian was finishing up his semester and had a group-project-meeting around noon, so we had time to go out to breakfast early before we headed out of town ….

I love the way C&A decorate…. I need to find big mirrors like this for our home….

Another long drive home filled with podcasts and music ….. But we got home early enough to have dinner together at home and just relax the rest of the night….

Traveling with Andrew is one of my favorite things ever – no matter where we’re going ….

Autumn tradition: Corn maze

Amy — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:22:26 +0000

One of my favorite newer Autumn traditions has been visiting a corn maze!!

This is something neither Andrew nor I did growing up, but when we lived in Arizona, Michelle introduced us to the wonder and glory of navigating a corn maze after dark …

This year, we returned to Pierce College with Fernando and Jessica …. except this time on a Saturday night.

First to Fab Dogs for dinner, and then we ended up getting to the actual Halloween Harvest Festival a little before 9p (after stopping for cash AND having to park miles away).

Once we FINALLY got there …. this was the line..

Correction: This was TWO lines of equally ridiculous length …

So, we had to wait about … 30 minutes? 45? maybe longer, I’ve blocked it from my memory….. Just to buy tickets to get in.

Finally in … Just before 10p sometime.

In addition to the corn MAZE … there is also a haunted corn … path (we did this last year), 2 haunted-house type places, a petting zoo, crafts and (of course) a pumpkin patch.

For whatever reason, the line to do the haunted corn path was looooong. Even though it’s not so good.

Luckily for us, we seem to be the only ones who know that. There was no line whatsoever for the actual MAZE…

If you’ve never done a corn maze … I should tell you: they GIVE you a map. There maze is set up as some sort of picture/creature/etc with check points throughout. They give everyone a little map (maybe about 4×6) and the idea is to punch your map with the hole-punch provided at each check-point.

For whatever reason, when we used to go with Michelle we would always forget to bring a flashlight. …. And, yes, it’s less scary with a flashlight, but there’s no way to actually read your map w/o one.

Unless, you WANT to get lost in the dark in a corn maze…. I mean, I’ve seen Children of the Corn, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre and all those other movies that involve middle-of-nowhere fields … I’m glad Andrew remembered the flashlight this time.

Besides, having just that spot of light makes for some fun photos (without using the flash on the camera)….

Also helpful?

I am EXCELLENT at ‘Corn Maze’ … . Or, rather, I am excellent at reading a nonsensical map in the dark.

We didn’t really get lost at all…. .Ok, maybe my excellence took all the fun out of it (for Andrew at least), but I led the charge and got us to all the check points …

Do you think corn-maze-skills translate into any real-world skills?

Jessica pulled up her Pandora app on her phone and started playing some John Carpenter soundtrack while we wandered around in the dark …. It was that perfect little extra touch

(blurry, but still spooky…. after all, what do you expect in the dark?)

after soaring through the corn maze with flying colors (no prize for being awesome, though) … we wandered around a bit more.

Most of the ‘exhibits’ or activities, or whatever you would call them were closed since it was so late ….

…. but we still got to feed a 4-horned sheep (goat? Just realized I have no idea)…

And got the best cotton candy deal ever.

2 for $5 …. and they handed me this one and I just about laughed out loud.

$2.50 for cotton candy twice the size of my head?? Yes please!

Yep, corn maze has GOT to be an autumn tradition from now on … tooo much fun!

You can view more photos and purchase prints here: 2011 Pierce College corn maze

Saturday afternoon in La Jolla

Amy — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 09:20:38 +0000

My mom is always finding some kind of travel deal, so about a week ago she and my dad came out to La Jolla where they had a free room at a hotel.

Deal city.

Andrew and I drove down on the Saturday to spend the afternoon and evening with them…

Time for the beach and dinner and home again (2.5 hour drive each way).

La Jolla is just so pretty. Everywhere you look.

There’s a small beach down there (right by downtown), where harbor seals hang out.

The photo above? all those people are all of 15 feet away from the seals in the photo below.

That little guy (below) facing toward the camera got pretty stressed and agitated by having humans so close by …. Poor thing.

(handsome)

See? He hobbled his little legless, armless body around driving people away.

Seriously felt bad.

The lifeguard (or someone) got on a bullhorn to say “Stay away from the seals” but A) you couldn’t really hear her unless you were already away from the seals and B) um, yea, maybe she shouldn’t have let people on the beach in the first place?

The weather at the beach was pretty gorgeous – as long as there was a breeze going. I got awfully hot in the sun.

Andrew and I bought a beach umbrella a few weeks for my delicate skin

Below: This is an ‘underwater park’ where people come to snorkel and all the sea life below the surface is protected…. Can’t wait to come back w/ snorkeling gear!

Just a bit beyond the underwater park was this rock of sea lions.

You can see the big guy (2 photos down) corralling his harem … and barking his sea lion bark incessantly.

Bossy guy, for sure!

Once the sun started its way down, we set off to find some food …. Something not too expensive, not to crowded (on a Saturday night) and with seafood (preferably).

The Spot was a pretty good choice, and we got to sit by this BIG open window (which was *almost* like sitting outside) …

cute cute.

Then ice cream, watching emergency vehicles treat a woman (barely) hit by a car), and the long drive home.

Andrew and I love getting out of town when we can, even if just for half a day …..

View the full gallery and purchase prints here: La Jolla with the Hanns

Schooner or Later

Amy — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 11:50:57 +0000

Andrew and his co-workers watch Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives during their lunch …. One of the great things about living in Los Angeles is so many of these well-known foodie places are within driving distance.

One of the ones from that show – Schooner or Later – is down south of us, not far from where Kaitlin and Joe live …

One Sunday morning recently we drove down for brunch with Kaitlin, Joe, Chris, Chris’s girlfriend Kahla, Kahla’s mom and some more of their friends …

Schooner or Later is pretty cute …. it’s right on the marina and there’s a dock specifically for Schooner or Later guests …

The *thing* to get there is a SCHOONER of beer (or Bloody Mary) … and The Mess.

So (obviously) that’s what we got!

Good diner food (I kind of love diner food in general) … .but not really worth the nearly 2 hour wait we had.

Oh well.

Breakfast is always fun!

Hann fam at the Stand

Amy — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 11:37:47 +0000

When my family is in town all I want to do is take them to all the good food places we visit…..

So after visiting LA Renegade, Andrew and I finagled a trip to The Stand on Ventura.

mmm …. the pickles are the best … hard to tell if my dad is having a good time or not, though …

Thus ends Christmas with my family ….. we watched some DVDs and played some games Sunday night and then they left Monday morning …..

Los Angeles Renegade Craft Fair

Amy — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 11:01:34 +0000

For whatever reason, the weekend my parents were in town, Los Angeles FORGOT that it was December….

That Sunday (mid-way through December) it was something absurd like 85 degrees out. Yuck. I am not a fan of heat.

But, since it was “so nice outside” (my mother’s words) we thought we should all go DO something as a family. Outdoors. In the heat.

After a couple suggestions, we settled on the Los Angeles Holiday Renegade craft fair – which I had wanted to go to but didn’t plan on due to the presence of family in town.

View more photos from the event here (not mine)

We arrived a little after lunch time and immediately got in line for some Kogi (Korean BBQ) tacos (yum!)

Renegade was at a Los Angeles park (with the skyline in the background) that would have been awesome if the weather had been cooler. With so much sun, it really would have been nice if they had chosen a park with trees.

Andrew and I were pretty much done with our Christmas shopping by this time, and I didn’t really have any money set aside to spend (even though I could have easily found a TON to buy) …. so we kind of just browsed, window-shopped and got ideas for our own projects to make….

Like these owl pillows – Andrew thought they would go GREAT with our couch. Cute, no?

We found this amazingly adorable octopus bookend.

Andrew thinks he could make one. We’ll see.

Oooh … one of my favorite booths – and one I would have gladly spent money at had I had it – was ErinZam’s collection of handmade/handbound books. Love.

She even sold tutorials so you could try your hand at making one (droplet.etsy.com)

Sad her etsy shop is closed at the moment….

Since Andrew and I weren’t really there to spend money, we found a shady spot to hangout, play Angry Birds, and wait for the others.

Kevin came walking up with bags of stuff for his girlfriend.

And none for me. Sad.

And then off to dinner …. Andrew and I took them to one of our favorite SF Valley places….

(to be continued)

My idea of Heaven

Amy — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:14:18 +0000

Last week Andrew and I made a trip down to Burbank for a little Christmas shopping …. We stopped by IKEA and the $1 bookstore to browse.

The $1 bookstore selection was a bit disappointing – the price point makes up for it, though.

Since we were looking for some Hemingway for Kevin, Andrew suggested we go across the street to the other used bookstore in the area. Still used books but about 1/2 the cover prices (vs. only $1).

It’s called ‘Movie World’ (why? I have no idea) …. and it pretty much looks like my idea of heaven ….

Bookshelves piled feet (and feet) above your head, more books piled on the floor (up to your knees), and SUCH an amazing selection … I found *exactly* what I was looking for. And then some.

For my birthday, Andrew’s going to take me back there and let me SWIM in all those books!

*please excuse the photo quality – we were just running errands so the only camera I had on me was the iPhone*

(This is the “cashier” … see that shoulder? Yea, exactly. This is his “counter”)

I can’t WAIT to go back!

Pierce College pumpkin patch

Amy — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 10:07:54 +0000

Ah…. pumpkin patches…

Last year we went to Lombardi Ranch … this year – there’s a pumpkin patch just almost down the street from us.

Pierce College (a local community college) has an agricultural program, with a corn field, strawberries and all … Turns out they also do a pumpkin patch in the fall.

Andrew and I went down in the afternoon to meet Fernando and Jessica for some pumpkining and corn mazing …

But we decided to go to dinner and take some time so it would be dark when we did the corn maze.

Because a corn maze in the daylight is just not the same thing.

Man oh man the food smelled good. Between the kettle corn and the other goods …. yum!

In addition to the corn maze, they had all kinds of other to dos, rides, etc. A petting zoo, a haunted house, lots of kids rides, and even this little set up where you could practice milking a cow.

Unfortunately, by the time we got there, the cow was bone dry.

Oh well.

Next time.

Here’s the thing about the Pierce College corn mazes …. $12 per person. Not cheap.

So we decided to do the ‘Creatures in the Corn’ scary trail – not the corn MAZE (that would have cost another $12) …

It’s not a maze. It’s just a trail with “actors” around every corner trying to scare us….

Doing an OK job.

And then about 2/3rds of the way through the “monsters” etc tried to tell us to hurry up, that we were going too slow.

How obnoxious!

I paid $12 for a 10 min walk? And you want me to hurry on this dark, uneven ground?

Annoying.

(thanks Fernando for taking this of us!)

Andrew decided to get a pumpkin. ….. I’m not really sure what he’s planning on doing with it…..

You should ask him.

Happy October!

Palm Springs: ACE Hotel grounds

Amy — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 10:53:03 +0000

The final group of photos from the ACE Hotel in Palm Springs ….

The grounds of this hotel are amazing …

I love the white buildings with the orange doors, accented with green ivy….

Palm Springs: ACE Hotel lobby and diner

Amy — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 10:15:30 +0000

No words.

I just love all of this.